Kristyne’s mustang roared along through the night. It was a warm night so she had the top down. The mustang was her high school graduation present from her parents. One of the best gifts she had ever received. Granted it was an older model, but she loved it just the same. Dad had ordered a custom paint job, and with a kick-ass stereo system and alarm, the Mustang 5.0 was her dream car. Well maybe not her complete dream car, but for any 17 year old (and even now at 24), the power behind the wheel of that car was intoxicating. How many nights had she spent just racing around the back roads of central Florida? She couldn’t even begin to count. And here was another to add the tally. Driving always gave her a sense of calmness.

Two hours later she was rolling up to the parking area across from her favorite dunes. She remembered when her and Evie would come here to sunbathe in the nude. The privacy of this beach gave Kristyne the confidence to do so. Evie, well, Kristyne just knew that girl would take off her clothes just about anywhere. Like that time at Central City when Evie entered the “Hot Bod” contest. Yeah, Evelynn won that night, much to Kristyne’s embarrassment. The tall leggy blonde had stripped down to a very sheer white silk teddy and then proceeded to pour some guy’s drink down her front. Wet and Wild the DJ had joked. Evelynn had all eyes on her that night, which really was nothing new. How did two completely different personalities become such close friends? The two never were able to figure that out. But they remained best friends all through high school and college. Even now, with their vastly different lifestyles, Kristyne still thought of Evie as her best friend. She always would.

With the top latched down and the alarm set Kristyne began the arduous hike through the path over the dunes. Coming down the eastern side of the dunes she could already feel her breath coming easier. The waves called to her like some fantasy lullaby. Shoes in hand she walked north along the edge of the water. Each step sent out a dance of green lights as the phosphorus sparkled in the wet sand. The foam of the waves had a lighter green glow as if illuminated by a black light. And the stars kept their ever-watchful eyes upon the entire beach.

Why couldn’t her life be like this all the time? She couldn’t remember the last time she truly felt at peace. Had to been just a mere year ago, just before her parents…before Chris and his addictions…before…

She couldn’t form the thoughts in her head. She couldn’t even breathe as silent sobs escaped. Tears took over again and she sank to the wet earth and wished the ocean would swallow her whole. Tears from her eyes slipped down her arms and mingled with the salt of the damp sand. That was where he found her.

The sound of the waves caressing the beach was the most peaceful sound Nick had ever heard. He had no idea how long or how far he had walked just listening to their lull. His eyes half closed he was in a semi-meditative state when something brought him around. Something, he couldn’t put his finger on it, had crept into his mind. Was it a sound? He wasn’t sure. There it was again, barely audible between the crash of waves. With only the stars to light the path he was almost on top of her before he saw her. Only the faint whimpering gave him any clue that something or someone was near by. She never saw him.

His heart leapt into his throat. How did such a tiny child get out this far on the beach, this late at night, and all alone? “Hey?” he softly whispered kneeling down beside her. When she didn’t respond he said a little louder, but only a little, “Hey little one, what’s wrong? Why you out here all alone?” She looked up, and even in the faint light of the stars she knew those were the bluest eyes she had ever seen.

**Sniff** She tried to stop, really she did. But the kindness in those eyes brought about a whole new bought of tears. She buried her head back into her arms and began rocking back and forth, overcome with grief.

Nick didn’t really know what to do. He didn’t want to scare her. He couldn’t just leave her there. So he did the one thing that felt right. He sat next to her and cradled her in a hug, rocking back and forth with her. “Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhhhh. It’ll be ok. We’ll find your parents.” Those words only seemed to make her cry harder. He hugged her a little tighter, his protective instincts taking over. God! How young was she? His first thought was that she was a child of 10 or 12. But after looking in her eyes, maybe not. Maybe a young teenager? 15 at the oldest. Again he thought why was she out here at this hour, all alone. There were no houses this far down. Where did she come from? Lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice her squirming at first.

“I’m ok now, I said” came the feeble voice. “You can let go.” Was it him or did she sound so unsure. He was afraid to let go. Afraid she would bolt. He had to make sure she got home safely.

“If I let go, do you promise not to run? I swear I won’t hurt you. Just let me help.” He spoke softly hoping to not frighten her. She sniffed and nodded her head yes. With that he slowly let go. This time when she looked up he again wondered how old she was. He squinted his eyes studying her, looking for some telltale sign that would give him a clue to her true age. From one angle she looked every bit the little child, yet from another there was a sense of maturity to her. He concluded, she had to be a teenager, not finished growing. Even though there was that hint of maturity in her face, she was so tiny, so small, like Aaron at that age. Not the child anymore; showing the shadows of the adult he would resemble, but not fully grown into it yet. That had to be it. Realizing he was staring he flashed her a warm smile.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. THAT smile. She shivered.

“Hey, are you cold? How long have you been out here” he gentle asked mistaking her tremble for cold. She shook her head no, but when her mouth opened to answer, her bottom lip began to quiver and a single tear escaped her lashes. Without thinking Nick reached up with his thumb and gentle wiped it away, hardly even touching her skin. She shivered again. “Oh, come here. I said I wouldn’t hurt you.” And he wrapped her back in his arms. ‘She must be frozen through’ he thought to himself as he felt her whole body tremble. ‘Either that or really scared. Probably scared, it really isn’t that chilly out here. Actually, it was rather warm for an April night. Ok Carter, stop making things worse and release her. God, she must think you are some creepy older man.’ He chuckled softly to himself as he once again released this endearing stranger. ‘Twenty-two and I’m already classified as Older, where did time go’.

He almost missed her softly spoken words. “Thank you, but I will be fine. I parked just a little ways back. Maybe a few miles. You don’t have to stay.”

“Parked? Are you even old enough to drive?” He asked in earnest wonderment. When she began to laugh he assumed she was not, but was even more shocked at what she said next.

“I would hope so being that I am 24.” She managed to get out around her quiet laughter. This never failed to amuse her. She had been stopped countless times by the cops demanding to see a driver’s license, convinced she was a rebellious pre-teen out for a stolen joy ride in her unsuspecting parents’ car. Of course, she loved the red-faced apology after they ran her license and found out she really was legal.

Running his hand across the top of his head he wasn’t sure if he heard her right. “Tw-Twenty Four?” He stammered. She had to be teasing. He couldn’t have misjudged her age by THAT much. “Prove it.”

Kristyne stood up to get her ID from her back pocket. Nick stood with her. Looking up into his towering height she handed him her license. Nick pretended to look at the small card, but took the opportunity to study her. Looking down at her, the true angle of his eyes was obscured in shadow. ‘Definitely short. My God, she only comes to my chest.’ But he realized height was where the child-like qualities stopped. With her T-shirt tucked into her denim shorts he could clearly make out a series of curves starting just below her shoulders, in towards a small waist, and out again around her hips. Nicely proportioned, not like those twiggy models. No, she was definitely a woman. She had nicely shaped legs. Perfect he thought. And those tiny feet. It suddenly dawned on him he had been staring for too long and he cleared his throat.

“I can’t really see this here, too dark. But I’ll take your word on it.” Again he smiled as he handed the card back to her. “Listen, it is late, and if you are parked as far away as you think, it is too late for you to head back alone. How far did you drive anyway?”

“Oh, about 2 hours. I can make it. I’m used to being tired.” The words slipped out before she could stop them. He must think her a fool. If anyone knew about tired it had to be him. He had been going non-stop longer than she had. She had watched over the years the shallow coloring below his eyes, knowing all too well the fatigue they hinted at. But rather than apologize, which would be admitting she knew who he was, she just looked out at the waves.

Hopeless, that was the look on her face. What was so bad to drive a person to the ends of the earth in the dark all alone? He thought he should be asking himself that question as well. “Two hours too long at…”glancing at his watch, “1:30 in the morning. Come on. At least come use the phone and let someone know where you are. You DO know where you are?” There it was again, that look. Hopelessness. Sorrow. Aloneness. He wasn’t sure which one.

Sighing “There’s no one to call who would care.” She kept her head level looking out at the frothy waves. Barely even blinking. She didn’t want him to see she was crying again at that thought.

But he could see the shimmer on her cheeks. “Come on. It’s too late for you to try and drive back tonight. Listen, I promise I won’t hurt you. I mean, I know you don’t know me. But, please try and believe me when I say all I want to do help you. I’m renting a place not far up the beach. Come get a little rest and you can leave whenever you like. You can lock yourself in a room if you want. Just don’t try and drive tonight. I’ll worry too much.” Worry? Yes, he admitted to himself, he would worry. He didn’t understand where this was coming from. Just a few short hours ago the last thing he wanted was company, especially from a woman. He had gotten burnt out on that. He wanted time to himself. Yet here he was opening up his sanctuary to a total stranger, and a woman at that.

Kristyne knew he wasn’t going to let her go. Besides, she really didn’t want to be alone, as if she had a choice, and she really was much too tired to drive. The beach was wonderful company, but nothing compared to a compassionate human being. Looking up at the stars she willed the tears away the best she could before she turned to face him again. Looking him in the eyes she held out her hand, “Well, I hope you mean it, you just gained yourself one roommate for the night. Hi, I’m Kristyne.” She stated with more bravado than she really felt.

“Well, Christine, like the car, right? I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”

“No, no. Not like the car. Not C-H-R, but K-R and a Y instead of a second I. I’m not nearly as dangerous.”

“Kristyne it is then.” Then he hesitated. If he introduced himself would she recognize him? In the dim light of the stars it was easy to believe she hadn’t recognized him, it was hard to make out complete features. But put a name to the vague face and that could change everything. After only a second, he knew he had to risk recognition. He told her he would behave. He wasn’t lying, and he wasn’t going to begin lying now. “Kristyne, I’m Nick.”

“Thank you, Nick.” Was all she said before heading back up the beach in the direction he had originally came.

He watched her for a minute before shaking his head with a smile. Taking only a few long strides he caught up with her. “Do you know where you are going?” He chuckled.

“No, but I knew you would catch me.” And that was the last they spoke as they walked back to Nick’s beach house, both lost in thought; not wanting to intrude on the other. Kristyne new he wouldn’t hurt her. Even though she didn’t KNOW him, she did know who he was. He didn’t know that. But she somehow sensed that even though this kind stranger was reaching out to help her, the last thing he needed was the burden of being recognized. ‘Let him have some peace’ she thought. ‘Besides, I will gone by sun-up and he will never know the difference.’

Once in the house he gave her a brief tour to try and make her comfortable in her surroundings. He really did want to help. She asked if she could use the bathroom to clean her face a little.

“Yeah sure. Oh wait. Hold on a sec.” He ran to his room, opened his suitcase and grabbed one of his clean t-shirts. He thought she might want to change into something clean and comfortable. He hoped she didn’t get the wrong idea. He handed her the shirt. “Here, in case you want something comfortable to sleep in. There are clean towels in bathroom too. I won’t bother you.” He gave her a smile hoping to make her comfortable.

It made her pulse quicken. In person, she realized that smile, that Carter smile, was even more deadly than in pictures. But she smiled back. “Thank you.” And slowly shut the door.

In the bright lights of indoor Nick saw what he couldn’t see on the beach. The dark auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail with curly tendrils escaping and framing her face, green eyes that had depth but sadly lacked sparkle, full lips, tiny hands and fingers. ‘God Carter, you’re getting as bad as AJ’ he chided himself. With that he went out on the porch to give her extra privacy. How quickly his thoughts changed as soon as he fully realized she was not a child by any stretch of the imagination. ‘I’m just tired and on overdrive. The chaos of the past few months is tainting my view over an innocent, albeit intimate encounter. It’s not HER; it’s the situation. Any man would feel this way.’ And on he went in his mind trying to put his finger on the situation. Eventually his head dropped to his chest and his breathing slowed and steadied.

The hot shower felt so good. The steam seeped into her pores and mind washing away the turmoil of the day along with the sand from the beach. She always imagined he was truly a wonderful person. But in reality he was so much more than that. After the life he lead she expected him to be more reserved, guarded. The kindness that he bestowed upon her, a total stranger floored her. The honesty and caring in his blue eyes were beyond anything she could ever remember seeing. She told herself to remember this night. His unassuming generosity was a flicker of light in her shadowed world.

Sometimes she questioned her stubborn resolve to work so hard and push so much. Was it really worth it after all? **Sigh** Yes it was. That was all she could ever remember wanting was to help people. After doing a rotation as an ER nurse she fell in love with emergency medicine and found herself doing ride-alongs with the local rescue squad. It wasn’t long after she took the Paramedic/EMT course and started with the squad full time. If she gave up on her dream now she knew life would never hold any happiness for her. Maybe, however, she should move someplace other than Gainesville. Shands was a great place to learn, but maybe it was time for a change. She had enough experience and references where she could relocate anywhere. This stranger’s warmth helped her see that maybe, just maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel. If someone with such a jaded view to life could still bestow such kindness, then the world was not completely hopeless. Besides, she knew mom and dad would want her to follow her dream no matter where they were. Chris, well Chris was another story. She knew he had been struggling with drugs. But she hoped that giving him the love that they had been missing the past year would help pull him together. Instead, he seemed to increasingly resent her more. She would continue to love her brother, but she would move on. She had to. It was the only way to survive. She knew that if he were his old self, before the death, before the drugs, he would have never in a million years hit her like that. Funny how easy it was to forgive others their faults but not her own, she pondered as she towel dried her hair. ‘Nick must think I fell in’.

Cleaning up her mess she left the warmth of the bathroom to let him know she was finished and ask where she could rest for a few hours. She found him asleep stretched out on a lounge on the deck. Remembering there were a few afghans in the living room she covered him quietly, carefully with one. She took the time to really look at him. He was breathtaking. Had those arms really been around her? Was it her retrospective thought now that she KNEW who he was, or did she really feel completely safe sitting surrounded in his hug on the beach? No, she did feel the security in his closeness before she had ever really looked at him, before the smile. Now, looking at him, his face smooth and untroubled, she whispered, “Thank you, Nick. When I needed someone you were there. For that I will always remember you. Not the megaPopstar, but rather the gentle giant who tried so hard to heal a badly bruised soul.” She softly ran her fingers over his brow and down his cheek. “Sleep Sweet” was the last thing he heard before she went inside.

He wasn’t fully asleep, just drifting, when he felt her touch and heard her words. Frozen in that spot he listened to her admission. She did know. Strangely, that knowledge pleased him. He fell asleep completely with a smile.


<~Chapter 2 or Chapter 4~>

Karina 2003